Last night was round two with ripe medlars from my young tree. Picked in May before the scarlet rosellas took them all, the bletting process (basically letting the fruit rot somewhere cool and dry) has finally happened.
According to fruit lore, the medlar is a traditional ‘fresh’ fruit accompaniment to port. So, I cracked a 2001 Stanton & Killeen Vintage Port to try the combination.
The VP had a long cork that was just short of failing from soaking through (I suspect due to upright storage instore), but was singing. So good to see the deft blending of the Portuguese varieties, including things I know little about like tinta barrocca and tinta cao. Spicy, delicate handling of spirit, really interesting to smell and length to burn. Could clearly, except for the cork thing, have built for years to come.
And the medlar? Very much an unattractive visual experience - mid-brown, pre-chewed baby food kind of gives you the picture.
But a really interesting flavour - pureed dried apple, mixed with fresh date and a squeeze of lemon. Not a good match with a smoked cheddar, or biscuit, but on its own with the port it became like a lengthy conversation, the medlar and port finishes being lengthy and complex in combination.
I don’t quite get how this could work, but it does. Aside from tipping a bottle of port into a hollow in the middle of a full wheel of Stilton once, this has been the best pairing of port and food I’ve come across.
Now I’m hoping for at least a kilo or two of medlars next year.